THE announcement by Malacañang that eight individuals came to the Palace for a non-existent oath-taking ceremony begs the question that has been raised since Vic Rodriguez sat on the executive secretary’s chair — are positions in the government for sale?
These would-be presidential appointees realized that they had been victimized by scammers who asked them to pay large sums of money in exchange for appointments to key positions.
According to the victims, whose identities were not disclosed, a certain Undersecretary Eduardo Diokno and one Assistant Secretary Johnson See, both from the Office of the Executive Secretary, instructed them to proceed to the Palace for their supposed swearing in rites to be administered by President Marcos Jr.
‘For people to believe that appointments can be bought under this administration reflects the public’s eroding confidence and trust in President Marcos Jr.’
The Palace, through Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevara, said there was no oath-taking ceremony scheduled last Friday afternoon and the “appointees” obviously fell victim to fraudsters. He also clarified that no such persons are employed in the office of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil said the victims revealed that “they paid huge sums of money to secure positions in the government after receiving information or invitation about available government positions.”
They were told to assume supposed positions, including a diplomatic post to The Netherlands, Department of Transportation (DOTr) assistant secretary, Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) board member, Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) president and chief executive officer, Early Childhood Care and Development Council executive director and vice chairperson, Clark Development Corp. (CDC) director and Port of Batangas manager.
While the Palace has directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct an investigation on the incident and appealed to the victims to cooperate, it boggles the mind to realize that there exists supposed educated professionals who would pay much for government positions.
Also, President Marcos Jr. should be worried that the sting of corruption in the matter of appointments to high positions has persisted to be attached to his administration, even after several reorganizations in Malacañang.
For people to believe that appointments can be bought under this administration reflects the public’s eroding confidence and trust in President Marcos Jr.
